Today is the Day
by SunnyCait
Summary: Santana's idea for a perfect proposal goes a little awry.


**Author's Note: Just a bit of fluffy Brittana for you all. Thought occured to me while I was bored on a stupid rainy day not long after a trip to Chicago. Pretty much sums this up, haha! Hope you enjoy!**

Rain. Stupid rain.

Santana sat on a tiny plastic blue chair with her elbows leaned on a knee height table in front of the picture window of her preschool classroom, her chin resting on her hands. She watched with unbridled disdain as water fell from the sky and wind whipped the branches of the small oak saplings planted out on the school's side lawn. She shuddered as a chill ran through her and reached for her coffee, taking a long sip. She'd just ran in from the rain on her way back from rolling up her car windows and her clothes and hair were dampened from the cold wetness. She frowned as a boom of thunder sounded and a spidery vein of lightening lit up dark clouds looming overhead. Casting a glance at her still napping students, she turned her attention back to the window and sighed.

Normally the rain didn't affect her like this. It was not much of a bother except for the fact that once the kids woke up she'd be stuck inside with them until she got off at four instead of hanging around outside at the playground where they could woop and holler and not give her a headache. But today was different. She'd been planning something very special for months now, and today was the day. Only now with all the stupid rain, it looked like it might not happen after all.

Proposals weren't something Santana had ever given much thought when she was younger, except for the fact she was sure one day she would recieve one or maybe even two. Then she'd met Brittany and to put it simply, fallen in love. Once they were out of high school, graduated from college, and settled into a small house on the outskirts of Lima though, proposals became kind of a big deal in Santana's mind.

The reason it'd taken so long for her to formulate the perfect proposal was simply because Santana wanted it to _be_ perfect. It needed to be romantic, sweet, thoughtful, and most importantly, _perfect_. And not for her sake, she truly didn't care if the question was asked on their sofa during a viewing of the nightly news or in the fanciest restaurant in the world. But she wanted it perfect for Brittany. Brittany was the love of her life, right? She deserved perfect, at the very least, not only for that but for loving Santana as well. Santana knew she wasn't the easiest person to care for... She could be too blunt, slightly manipulative, and was quick to anger and slow to forgive. Despite all of her flaws, Brittany loved her. So a perfect proposal was the least she could do on her constant trek to repay Brittany for what felt like an endless IOU list for her devotion and commitment to such an unlovable creature.

At first she wasn't sure Brittany wanted a proposal as much as Santana wanted to give her one... But then slowly the hints started, at first hidden subtley in conversations Santana overheard Brittany and their friend Quinn having and whispered mumblings when passing a jewelry store or a bridal dress shop. Then they came much less subltely over their evening walks with their dog Karly, during the first still moments of the morning, and lately, blatantly in front of their friends, all of whom were already married. It was time.

Rain was still falling heavily from the sky when it was time to wake up the children. Carefully she picked her way amongst the sleeping bodies, patting a back here, whispering a few quiet words there in attempt to gently wake them. When most of the kids were up she flipped on the lights and with the aid of her more coordinated students set up for snack. While they all munched on Goldfish crackers and sipped apple juice, Santana allowed their four year old chatter to fade into muted background noise as she mused about her plan.

The idea was that after she left this place, Santana would head over to Brittany's dance studio and pick her up. Then, she would drive the two of them to Chicago. It was a drive, and Brittany would be unaware, but she knew Brittany well enough to know that she would be all for an adventure and wouldn't ask too many questions. Santana had already packed their stuff for an overnight stay and the bags were sitting in wait in the trunk of her Malibu. Once they were there, she would take Brittany to Navy Pier, where there was a giant ass ferris wheel. They would ride said ferris wheel, and at the tippy top, Santana would give Brittany the longest, sweetest speech she could think of and then propose and produce a lovely and slightly overstated engagement ring from the front of her windbreaker. Yes, she had thought about this enough to know she would be wearing a windbreaker. It was late September after all.

After reviewing, Santana felt a bit better. They could make it to Chicago. It probably wasn't raining there, so the ferris wheel would be running still. Besides, for some reason it felt like a pressing need to do this, and she couldn't imagine waiting any longer. She'd thought about it all last night, all day today... It had to happen today. Today was _the_ day, she could feel it in her bones. Feeling more confident in her plan, she carried out the rest of her afternoon with her kids and at four o'clock sharp, clocked out and made yet another mad dash to her car through the torrential downpour.

The car felt like it was crawling along the side streets Santana was taking to the dance studio, but she still was optimistic, bopping her head along to whatever pop tune was playing on the radio with a big smile on her face.

"Today is the day," she said under her breath to herself as she pulled up to the front of the large tin shed-like building Brittany taught dance in. She saw a blonde head peeking through the studio door and smiled wider. As soon as she honked the horn, the door flew open and Brittany ran out, her jacket over her head as she sprinted through the rain, dodging puddles gracefully. Santana leaned over and opened the door, allowing Brittany to hurtle right in.

"Brr! That rain is something else isn't it?" Brittany remarked as she shivered and buckled her seat belt. Santana made no comment, still smiling at Brittany. Even rain-soaked, her long blonde hair plastered to her head and cheeks flushed, Brittany was the most gorgeous woman she'd ever seen. She didn't realize she was truly staring until Brittany gave her a look. "What?" she asked in a quizzical voice, pulling her arms further into her sleeves so as to cover her hands.

"Hmm?" she said slowly, bringing herself back into the moment. Brittany's curious face made her remember the question. "Oh, yeah. Rain," she said dismissively, waving her hand about. She resettled her gaze on Brittany. "I have a surprise for you!" she announced mischieviously, crinkling her nose at her girlfriend. When Brittany squealed loudly and clapped her hands out of excitement, Santana felt a flutter of nerves and anticipation in her stomach.

"Really? For me? What is it?" Brittany leaned over and gave Santana an enthusiastic kiss on the cheek.

"Can't tell you." Santana shook her head and gave Brittany a wink. "But it does involve a roadtrip. Think you can handle waiting?"

"Of course. I love roadtrips." Brittany again invaded Santana's side of the car and gave her another kiss, this time on the mouth, which Santana returned eagerly. After a few seconds Santana laughed and pulled away, and started to back the car out of the lot. "Thanks, San," Brittany said, placing her hand on Santana's knee, the other fiddling with the radio station. "It's been a long week at the studio... I could use a break. And what better break than a roadtrip with my lovely girlfriend?" At the words Santana felt a surge of confidence. Yes. _Today is the day_.

"Don't thank me yet," Santana warned, but Brittany knew she was teasing and giggled from mirth, giving Santana's leg a loving squeeze. After a few minutes of creeping down the road, Brittany made a sound as if she was going to say something, but when Santana looked over at her, she shut her mouth again. "What is it, Britt?"

"It's just... it's raining," Brittany said slowly. As if on cue there was a crack of thunder. Brittany frowned and corrected herself. "Storming." She turned to face Santana with her brows knit in worry. "Are you sure it's a good idea? We could just go tomorrow, it is Saturday..."

"Everything will be fine," Santana assured firmly, although the windshield wipers were barely clearing the glass of water before her view was blurred again. _Today is the day_. She reached a hand over and gently moved a piece of fallen hair from Brittany's ponytail back behind her ear, her thumb brushing against her cheek. "It'll be perfect."

For the most part the pair rode silently, occassionally remarking on the rain that showed absolutely no signs of letting up evenly slightly or singing along to the radio. The driving conditions made Santana a little nervous, but there were few other cars on the road so she didn't worry too much. They'd been driving for three hours and were halfway between home and Chicago when the car made a loud popping noise and the engine stalled.

"Fuck!" Santana exclaimed, and the word was soon followed by a slew of other curses that made Brittany blush.

"What's it doing?" Brittany asked, but Santana didn't answer, not only because she was too pissed to trust herself to answer nicely but because it wasn't like she had an answer to give in the first place. She knew next to nothing about cars.

Santana was thankful they were able to coast to a stop at the top of a hill, safely off on the shoulder of the road. What she didn't see was the ditch and what she didn't count on was the shoulder being so saturated by the heavy rain that it'd turned to mud, and the softened earth couldn't hold the car's weight. It started to slowly make it's descent down the hill, while remaining sideways.

Screaming as soon as she realized what was happening, Santana grabbed for Brittany and pulled her practically into her seat, and when Brittany caught on that the car was sliding down the hill, she too was screaming, and Santana found herself screeching "I WANT TO LIVE! I WANT TO LIVE!" as Brittany started to cry and clung tightly to Santana's neck. Everything was moving in slow motion, so slow that Santana had enough time to think.

Her mind raced to all the things she hadn't done yet, how her children would be broken the news that she'd died, how Quinn and all the rest of their friends would surely blame her for killing Brittany as well, how twenty five years was not long enough of a lifetime... Then she realized time wasn't moving in slow motion. The car was. She stopped exclaiming long enough to look around, though it was hard with Brittany's arms wrapped so desperately around her neck, and then she started to laugh. The car was still moving, but it was moving at a snail's pace. Brittany gave a giant sob and started to cry harder.

"Oh my God, we're going to die. We're going to die and you're laughing!" Brittany cried, throwing her head back as a fresh wave of tears coursed down her face. Santana couldn't stop laughing as she attempted to wrest herself from Brittany's vice-like grip.

"Britt, stop! Look!" Santana turned her head so that Brittany was looking out the car window that faced the bottom of the hill. Brittany stopped sobbing and sniffed, a look of pure confusion crossing her face.

"Did... are... we're barely moving."

"I know."

"Do... do we try and get out?" Brittany asked slowly, still rather perplexed by what was going on. Santana shook her head.

"I don't think so. I don't think it'll flip or anything, since you're on my side of the car. Let's just wait it out," Santana suggested, and Brittany nodded her head in agreement. It took another couple of minutes for the car to reach the bottom of the hill, but sure enough it got stopped and they were both unscathed. Brittany gave a little cough as she climbed back over into her seat, embarrassed.

"I really thought we were going to die," Brittany told her girlfriend, and Santana shook her head, scooting closer to Brittany and taking her back in her arms.

"I thought so, too," she admitted softly. She smiled when Brittany did, tightening her grip. "Glad we didn't. You're too smokin'." They spent a few moments in each other's arms, neither caring that their fear had turned out to be almost completely unwarranted. It had felt real enough in the moment, and even though they hadn't been in any real danger they both still were grateful and relieved to be alive. The car probably wasn't even damaged.

Santana frowned, glad that Brittany couldn't see her do it. Well her plans were all but friggin' ruined. They'd have to call a tow truck to get them back up the hill and probably take them to a garage to get the car looked over. She was pretty sure cars shouldn't make the noise hers just had. Automatically she felt cross. Today was supposed to be the day! And their car had crapped out and it was raining and Jesus just really had it out for the gays after all, didn't he?

"Hey," Brittany said quietly, gazing up into Santana's dark eyes. "What's the matter? We're okay."

"I know. I know," Santana agreed with a sigh, trying to shake herself of her bad mood. There wasn't anything she could do about it anyway, not with technology and nature dead-set against her perfect proposal. It'd have to wait. She whipped her cellphone out of her pocket and was shocked to find she had reception. She called the best car guy she knew, the one that did everything for their vehicles. "Hey Kurt? Yeah, it's me. Listen, I'm out on I-80 west, mile marker..." She looked out her window and back up the hill. Not that she could see the mile marker even if she wasn't in a ditchy-hill because of the rain. "I don't know. The car broke down, and we kind of slid down a hill... Yes, we're fine, just stuck with a broken down car in a ditch about three hours from home, that's all," she snarked, irritated that Kurt had bothered asking if they were okay. "Yeah, just start down the interstate and I'll get out of the car and check the mile marker, get that to you. Thanks, Kurt." She hung up the phone and distangled herself from Brittany.

"Are you really going out in that?" Brittany's eyes flashed worriedly at the rain, the corners of her mouth drawn into a tight frown.

"Have to, or else how is Kurt going to find us?" Brittany conceded, although she watched with concern as Santana hitched up the hood on her thin sweatshirt and quickly exited the car, sure to leave her cell phone for Brittany.

_Well this was a stupid idea_, she thought to herself as she was hit directly in the face with the cold precipitation, chilly wind only making the sensation worse as it easily cut through the fabric of her clothes. Within seconds she was completely soaked. She trudged up the hill, or at least attempted to. She could barely make out her hands in front of her, which she held out as some form of finding her way in the almost darkness, though it was almost completely futile.

Suddenly she found her feet slipping in the mud and coming out from under her, landing her with a thud on her ass on the ground. After a few moments she picked herself back up, and after repeating the same scenario four or five more times, she almost gave up and walked back to the car. But she carried on, eventually making it up the hill the long way. Once she was at the top and standing on the shoulder of the interstate, she almost laughed. That must have taken her ten or fifteen minutes and it was probably less than five hundred feet. She squinted and looked for a green flourescent mile marker, and was pleased to see she had come up right beside one.

"One eighty two," she noted loudly, as to help her remember it. Once she had stared at it long enough, she glanced up and down either way of the interstate. Not a fucking car in sight, naturally. Well she didn't want to stay out in this any longer than she had to. She was absolutely freezing and covered with cold mud, not an inch of her dry. She was quitting now. She tried to walk back down the hill but ended up falling again, and she grappled with the wet earth to try and stop her slide down. She tumbled the rest of the way down, and she sat dazed for a couple seconds at the foot of the hill before realizing she was by the car again. Again she fought the urge to laugh. Fifteen minutes up, three seconds down. She opened the car door and hurriedly jumped inside, noting with a grimace that she'd likely have to get her seats professionally cleaned once this was ordeal was over.

"Oh thank God, you made it back!" Brittany shrieked with relief, practically jumping on Santana. "You took forever." Santana held up a hand that told her to just not, signaling she wasn't to be touched.

"I'm gross, babe. I'm wearing half the dirt that made up that hill." Brittany hmmphed and settled back into her seat, a watchful eye on her girlfriend. Santana's face was set in a frown, which while not completely unusual, Brittany cound sense something was genuinely bothering her. She ran a hand over Santana's arm as the brunette shivered, chilled to the bone from the exposure.

"What's the matter?" Brittany asked softly, adjusting herself in her seat so that she could get both of her hands on Santana, gently easing Santana out of her hoodie. She was met with little resistance as Santana shook her head in response to her question. She shrugged out of the sweatshirt with a little effort as the fabric clung to skin.

"I've got to call Kurt," Santana said in a short, clipped voice. Brittany handed her her cell and Santana made the call, remembering the mile marker with ease. She hung up and flung the phone onto the dash. Again Brittany started to undress her, now tugging at her pants.

"Let's get these off of you; you're freezing." Santana allowed this, and found her heart getting heavier and heavier as Brittany removed her clothes, whispering soft words of comfort and gentle caresses attempting to rub warmth back into her appendages. Brittany was very careful, making as minimal of a mess as she could. Once Santana was rid of her wet clothing and Brittany had tossed them onto the floorboard at her feet, Santana was clad only in her undies. Brittany shucked off her own oversized sweatshirt and helped Santana get it on over her head. "There. That's better. You didn't happen to pack clothes did you?" Brittany asked, reaching around the back to pull down the back seat so she could access the trunk. Santana nodded, feeling wetness in her eyes and a lump form in her throat.

Brittany was taking such good care of her... Even when she avoided questions and was growly at her, Brittany paid her no mind and tended to her. This was why she loved Brittany so much, this is why Brittany deserved that perfect proposal. And the opportunity was ruined. Even now as she sat there wallowing, Brittany was smiling into her face, brandishing a pair of jeans from the duffel in the trunk at Santana. Her smile faltered for a second when she saw Santana's expression, but then she brought it back with full force and hugged Santana to her tightly.  
"Santana, I love you. Don't look so sad." The words were simple, but as soon as they'd left Brittany's mouth Santana could no longer fight back the tears that she'd been suppressing.

"I... just... wanted... it... to... be... perfect," Santana choked out through watery sobs and sniffs. Brittany held Santana at arms length and looked at her questioningly.

"Wanted what to be perfect? The road trip?"

"No! The proposal! Today was supposed to be the day! I was taking you to Chicago, we were going to ride that giant stupid ferris wheel, you were going to be moved by my romanticism, and we were going to live happily ever after!" Santana wailed, placing her hands over her face and sobbing into them. "It's all ruined!" Brittany was too caught off guard by how uncharacteristic this highly dramatic outburst was to really notice what Santana had said. When the words registered Brittany pulled Santana's hands away from her face and took both hands in hers, peering into her face with an understanding and patient expression.

"Today _is_ the day, San. Ask me," Brittany told her. Santana rose her eyebrows and her bottom lip quivered as she held back her tears again.

"I'm a mess, I got us stuck in a ditch... Why would I do that? This is the least perfect moment in the world," Santana lamented with a shake of her head. She hated that she was being such a girl about it, but damn it, this mattered to her. Brittany leaned closer, resting her forehead against Santana's, still clutching her hands in her own.

"Ask me," Brittany whispered. Santana didn't know what it was, but when she looked into those crystal clear blue eyes, her sorrow faded and the heaviness and self-pity she'd been feeling melted away. Here she was, covered in mud and absolutely disgusting, and Brittany was looking at her as if she were the only woman in the world.

"Why?" Santana asked in a low voice, not tearing her gaze from Brittany's, the pairs eyes locked on each other's in an intense stare. Brittany made no moves to break away and showed no signs of taking back her words.

"Maybe because I have an answer for you." Santana swallowed the lump that had again risen in her throat. Before she knew what she was really doing, the words slipped effortlessly off of her tongue.

"Brittany, I love you. I want to have kids with you, argue over brands of toilet paper with you, have sex with you any time I want to, eat out of mixing bowls with you, cry with you during sappy chick movies, laugh with you at stupid things that happen in our days. I want you to be my wife, because you're the only one I can see myself doing those things with for the rest of my life. You're the only one I want. Forever and ever. Will you marry me?"

It wasn't the same speech she had ready for the tippy top of the ferris wheel, it wasn't near as eloquent or wordy, but it was real and true, every bit of it. Santana watched the tears well in those gorgeous blue eyes and a smile spread over the beautiful face of her girlfriend.

"Yes," she answered in a breathless voice. "Yes," she repeated, this time stronger, with more determination. "I want to marry you. I didn't care how you asked me. I'm just so glad you did!" Brittany chuckled and wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes with the back of her hand. Santana's heart soared and she couldn't hold back a joyous giggle, throwing her arms around Brittany and kissing her sweetly, lips pressed softly against the blonde's. In all of their relationship they'd never had a kiss so tender and meaningful... It sucked the breath right out of Santana's lungs, making her chest feel as if it was on fire.

It wasn't the top of the Navy Pier ferris wheel, and it wasn't as romantic and well planned as she intended, but it was indeed perfect, if only for the fact that Santana lost a girlfriend and gained a fiance at the bottom of that slippery slope of a muddy hill out in the middle of nowhere.


End file.
